Critical Condition 2
by MewLover54
Summary: Froakie has been involved with a big accident, causing the gang to stay with him during his time in the Coumarine City Pokemon Centre. There, he will have to heal, but luckily he has Fennekin with him every step of the way, but is this because of guilt or something else? Sequel to Critical Condition, rated M for slight gore.
1. Falling

ML54: Hi guys!

Oshawott: Oh my Arceus! Could it be?!

Ash: It is! The promised sequel!

ML54: Yeah, I know it's been a while since I promised this sequel. I got the inspiration to write this since I started watching the Pokemon XY series! That new theme song is AWESOME! Disclaimer Froakie!

Froakie: ML54 doesn't own Pokemon.

**Falling**

It was a bright and early morning in the Kalos Region as our heroes, Ash, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie, were waiting on the harbour in Coumarine City. Their Pokemon, Pikachu, Fletchinder, Froakie, Hawlucha, Fennekin, Chespin, Dedenne and Bunnelby all by their feet, also waiting for...

...Something.

"Chespin Chespin? (Uh...What are we here for, Pikachu?)" Chespin asked, tilting his head around Bunnelby to face him. Pikachu turned back, excitedly.

"Pika Pika! (Ash's friend Dawn is coming here for a little while!)" He replied, with great enthusiasm and a twinkle in his eye.

Froakie tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Froakie...? (Why are you so excited...?)"

Dedenne giggled. "Dededededene! (Yeah! Is she your girlfriend?!)" She asked, putting a mockingly dreamy expression on her face.

Pikachu recoiled a bit, a blush adorning his cheeks. "Pika...Pikachu. (No...She owns my girlfriend.)"

The group looked directly at Pikachu in surprise, before they got over their shock long enough to ask questions.

"Fen fen? (Since when did you have a girlfriend?)"

"Bunnelby? (Who is she?)"

"Dedenne? (Can you find a wife for Clemont then?)" The group turned to the little orange Pokemon, most with an eyebrow raised. "Dedenne Den! (What, Bonnie can't look after him forever!)"

They sighed as a group while their trainers talked amongst themselves. "So what's Dawn like, Ash?" Serena asked, curiously. Ash grinned.

"Oh she's one of the best friends I've ever had! I met her in the Sinnoh Region while she was on her journey to become the top Pokemon Co-ordinator!" He declared, noticing his friends confused expressions.

"What's a Pokemon Co-ordinator, Clemont?" Bonnie asked her big brother, who rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"I honestly have no idea! This is new to me." Serena nodded in agreement, having never heard of this concept either.

"Yeah, so Ash, could you please explain?" Ash nodded, hoping this won't end up like the time he tried to explain Pokemon Evolution...That had ended up being explained by Clemont.

"Of course! A Pokemon Co-ordinator takes part in a thing called a Pokemon Contest. In a Contest, it's the Co-ordinator's job to try to draw the natural beauty and appeal of their Pokemon by using a move to show them off, then three judges gives a Co-ordinator a score out of ten each!" He explained in as much detail as he could without his head exploding.

"...That sounds so complex!" Bonnie complained, huffing. Ash smiled, squatting down to face her.

"Hey don't worry, Bonnie! I'm sure, once she gets here, she'll show you what I mean!" He said, much to the other three's excitement.

"Really?! Do you think she will?!" Bonnie asked, jumping on the spot a bit. Ash nodded. "Alright!"

"That does sound quite interesting, I'm sure we'd all like to see that, right Serena?" Serena nodded her head.

"Of course! It does sound impressive to say the least!" She commented. "So is there anything else about her we should know?"

"Of course! Right now she and her Buneary are doing some modelling back in Sinnoh, but she said she could come and travel with us for a while!"

"Modelling?!" Serena asked, shocked. Ash smiled, nodding.

"Yup! She's a bit of a fashion nut too, but she's really nice and a super strong battler as well..."

Serena looked at him as he continued to list off Dawn's many qualities before something occurred to her. "_Does...Does Ash have a crush on this girl?!" _

He had all the tell tale signs of having a crush on her. From the twinkle in his eye as he sings her praises, to the slight red tint to his cheeks as well.

On the outside she tried to keep up a bright smile, but on the inside, she could feel her heart break a little. She's had a crush on Ash ever since she saw him again on the TV, facing off against that Garchomp on top of Lumiose Tower. She wouldn't go as far as to say she's had this crush since they were in Professor Oak's Pokemon Camp all those years ago, but she's still had these feelings for a while.

Fennekin looked up at her trainer in worry, almost as if she could feel Serena's distress. It's said that a Pokemon and a Trainer can pick up on each other's feelings and sometimes mimic them and right now, there was some truth in that statement.

"HEY ASH!" They heard as a ship could be seen coming into port. On the bow of the ship, stood Dawn and Piplup, waving to their friend who had turned away from Serena to greet her, Pikachu jumping onto his shoulder.

"HI DAWN!" He replied, waving his arms in front of him to draw her attention, Pikachu looking at her...or rather the PokeBall on her belt.

* * *

After the boat docked, the plank was set down and Dawn raced down, enveloping Ash in a warm hug, which he gladly returned. "Oh it's been such a long time! How've you and Pikachu been doing?! How many badges do you have?!" Ash grinned back, letting her go for a minute to get his badge case.

"We've been going great! I already have three badges!" He announced, showing the three to her.

"Wow, that's so great! I'm really proud of you, Ash!" Ash blushed a bit, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Yeah, but I still got a long way to go..." He felt a tugging on his trouser leg and turned down to see Pikachu looking up at him with his arms crossed. "Oh right, you want to see Buneary again, don't ya, buddy?"

Pikachu nodded, to which Piplup rolled her eyes. "Piplup... (Loverboy...)" Dawn giggled, but nodded, grabbing three PokeBalls.

"No need to worry, I brought a few of my Pokemon with me! Come on out everyone!" She declared, releasing the three Pokemon, revealing themselves to be Cyndaquil, Chikorita and Buneary. Buneary then smiled widely and all but tackled Pikachu to the ground.

"BUNEARY! (PIKACHU!)" Bonnie's eyes sparkled at the scene of Buneary and Pikachu nuzzling each other without a care in the World.

"OH WOW! THAT IS ONE OF THE MOST CUTEST THINGS I'VE EVER SEEN!" She exclaimed, running up to them and looking at the little happy smiles and building of tears of joy in the corner's of Buneary's eyes. Dawn looked surprised for a bit, before Ash answered her unasked question.

"Oh yeah! Guys, this is Dawn!" Ash said, introducing his new travelling companions with his old one. "Dawn, these are Serena, Clemont and his little sister Bonnie!"

"Wow, it's so great to finally meet you! Ash has told me all about you, so I hope we get to be great friends." Dawn said to the three pleasantly, to which Bonnie's eyes started to look over her inquisitively before she announced.

"You're a KEEPER!" The other four recoiled as Bonnie got down on one knee and took Dawn's hand in her own. "You're the perfect girl to become my brother's wife!" Clemont looked on in horror while Dawn rose an eyebrow at her.

"BONNIE!" Clemont exclaimed, his mechanical Aipom Arm reaching over to grab her, dragging her away from the blue haired girl. "How many times do I have to tell you not to do that, it's so embarrassing!"

"I'll let you think about it!" Bonnie continued, not really listening to her brother. Serena and Ash sweat dropped while Dawn looked a little clueless about what happened.

"...She gets like that sometimes..." He then turned and motioned for the Pokemon to come over. "And here's some of the new Pokemon that we have. These three are mine, Froakie, Fletchinder and Hawlucha!" The three mentioned Pokemon nodded and greeted Dawn.

Serena then picked up the Fire-Type and said. "This is my partner, Fennekin!" Fennekin smiled and sneezed, causing a few embers to burst from her ears.

"And those three are Clemont's Pokemon, Chespin, Bunnelby and Dedenne, though Bonnie looks after Dedenne for him!" The three greeted her happily as their trainers slowly returned, after Clemont had had a talk with Bonnie.

"Well hello there all of you my name's Dawn, and these are Piplup, Cyndaquil, Chikorita and Buneary!" Serena looked on at the four, curiously, before retrieving her Pokedex.

"Piplup, the Penguin Pokemon! Because it is very proud, it hates accepting food from people! It's thick down guards it from cold!" The mechanical, female voice said as an image of Piplup appeared on the screen. She then moved it over to Cyndaquil.

"Cyndaquil, the fire mouse Pokemon! It has a timid nature! If it is startled, the flames on its back burn more vigorously!" It said as Cyndaquil shuffled uncomfortably at all the unfamiliar faces. She then moved it over to Chikorita.

"Chikorita, the leaf Pokemon! It uses the leaf on its head to measure the temperature and humidity! It loves to sunbathe!" It said as Chikorita rested next to Cyndaquil, enjoying the sun's rays. She lastly moved the Pokedex over to the happy couple, scanning the new bunny.

"Buneary, the rabbit Pokemon! When it senses danger, it perks up its ears! On cold nights, it sleeps with its head tucked in its fur!" Pikachu grinned, nuzzling her cheek, causing her to giggle.

"Pika Pika Pikachupi. (Don't worry about the cold, you got me to warm you up.)" Buneary beamed and hugged him some more.

"Buneary bun! (Oh you little charmer!)"

The others sweat dropped at the scene, feeling a little awkward. "...Froakie? (...Anyone else weirded out?)"

"Piplup pip! (Yeah, at least me and Chimchar are subtle!)"

"Dedenne! (I think it's cute!)"

"Chespin... (You would...)"

Ash then turned to Dawn in sudden realisation. "Oh yeah! Dawn, I just explained to Serena, Clemont and Bonnie what a Pokemon Contest was and they were hoping you could demonstrate for them. So can you?" He asked.

"Oh please, oh please, oh PLEASE!" Bonnie continued, holding her hands together and looking up at her imploringly.

"Of course I can, I'd be happy to, right guys!" Her three, unoccupied Pokemon nodded, cheering.

"Great! We'll find a perfect spot and then she can show you guys what she can do!" Ash exclaimed, expecting Pikachu to jump on his shoulder to agree with him.

In confusion, he looked over and found that both he and Buneary had fallen asleep against each other. He sweat dropped and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Oh yeah, Pikachu didn't sleep well last night since he was so excited to see Buneary again!"

Dawn giggled. "Yeah, Buneary was exactly the same." She explained, picking the two up.

"C'mon, let's head on out to the cliff, I hear there are some great views up there! Just one cable car away!" Serena said, leading them towards the car. Everyone else nodded and chased after her, Pokemon included.

* * *

Once they were on the cliff, Dawn set the sleeping pair of rodent Pokemon on a nearby tree and ran to the centre of one of the fields with Piplup by her side. "Alright, you ready Piplup!"

"Piplup! (Always!)" She replied, relishing the attention she was getting from the audience of Ash and his new travelling friends. She loved showing off.

"Alright! Then start off with Whirlpool!" Piplup nodded and threw her head back, creating a massive water current above her head, much to their amazement.

"Wow! It's so pretty!" Bonnie said, staring at the Whirlpool.

"It sure is, but Piplup's not finished yet!" Dawn smiled at Ash's words and continued the routine.

"Alright Piplup! Use Bubblebeam!" Piplup nodded and fired a volley of bubbles into the Whirlpool, causing them to spiral around in a circular motion, causing sunlight to refract through the bubbles in many different directions and angles, essentially creating one huge disco light show that even people passing by stopped to admire the beauty of it.

Not realising the repercussions that this dazzling light may have near a cliff...

Fennekin, after watching the Whirlpool, had thought that the routine was finished and had spotted a few twigs near the edge of the cliff she could snack on. Feeling her stomach rumble slightly, she slipped away, hoping not to have garnered too much attention.

She didn't, however, notice Froakie following her, concerned. "Are you okay, Fennekin?"

She turned to him and tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Um...Yeah, just a bit hungry is all." She answered him, stepping about four steps towards the edge of the cliff and snatched one of the twigs up, much to Froakie's horror.

"Hey! Get away from that ledge!" Froakie scolded her, causing her to look up at him. "That's a dangerous thing to do! You could fall off!" Fennekin huffed and turned away.

"I can look after myself, Froakie! Don't tell me what to do!" She shouted back.

"Well I wouldn't have to if your weren't doing something so stupid! Get back over here now!" Fennekin stuck her tongue out at him and took one step closer to the edge of the cliff.

Froakie's blood started to boil now. What was she trying to prove by doing this?! "Get back here now!" He seethed, letting out almost violent levels of anger at this point.

She turned back to face him, a twig sticking out of her mouth before it disappeared behind her lips. "You're no fun, you know that!"

"There's a time and a place for fun and now is neither the time nor the place! You're in a lot of danger over there, now get back over here!"

"...Make me!" She asked, grinning. Froakie groaned and turned away.

"You know what, fine! Go ahead and get yourself killed! See if I care!" He replied, coldly, much to her shock and shame.

"...Sorry Froakie...I didn't mean to make you worry...I just...AHH!" Froakie turned in alarm as one of the refracted rays of light hit Fennekin, unexpectedly, in the eye, causing her to finch backwards...

...off the side of the cliff.

"FENNEKIN!" Froakie cried out, jumping after her and grabbing her in a hug. Once she was secure, he looked around himself, almost as if his adrenaline set everything in slow motion. Vaguely, he was aware of their trainers looking over the side of the cliff but that wasn't as important as trying to find a ledge or something to land on...

...but there were none!

All there seemed to be was the rapidly approaching ground which, even with his jumping abilities, he couldn't land on safely. It was a really high cliff! It was impossible for Hawlucha and Fletchinder to catch up to them as well. So he did the last thing he could think of to do.

He spun round so that his back was facing the ground, using his body as a cushion, grabbing a few frubbles to pull down his chest and over his head to provide further insulation from the impact for Fennekin.

She looked down in horror as they landed and she bounced off him and landed on her side a couple of feet away from him, some of his frubbles sticking to her fur.

But she didn't care about that right now, she needs to check on her friend who had taken the full brunt of the impact for her. "FROAKIE!" She cried out, running up to him.

He was lying on the ground, eerily still. Gently, she shook his body, only just noticing a red liquid leaking down and staining her paw.

She pulled her paw back and stared at the blood staining it in horror. "No..." She whispered as she removed the frubbles from his chest and saw what had caused the blood to leak...

...He had been impaled by a sharp rock.

Tears started to fill up her eyes as she gazed down upon the still Froakie and leaned her ear down next to his mouth.

Thankfully she could hear him breathing, but it was very shallow.

"Fennekin! Froakie!" She heard from above her and looked up to see Fletchinder and Hawlucha flying down towards them.

"FLETCHINDER! HAWLUCHA! PLEASE! HELP HIM!" She cried out, revealing how bad Froakie's injuries were.

The two cringed as they approached the frog Pokemon and Fletchinder squatted down in front of him. "Alright, you two lift him up onto my back and I'll fly him to the Pokemon Centre! Afterwards, you get everyone else to go there too!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Hawlucha replied, trying to sound as calm as possible, but on the inside, he was terrified! He liked Froakie, he was a good friend, a great partner and an even better rival!

Fennekin was still trembling and sniffling with fear, worry and guilt. _"It's all my fault! I should have listened to him! He was just concerned for my safety, he wasn't trying to boss me around! And now he paid the price for it!"_

"On the count of three, Fennekin, okay?" Hawlucha asked, to which she nodded silently. The two got on opposite sides of Froakie. "One...Two...THREE!" He announced as the two lifted him of the rock as carefully as they could, hearing a sickening, squelching sound as he levitated up by the help of his friends.

Fennekin flinched, feeling a stabbing pain in her heart, knowing that this was all her doing.

Soon he was off and he fell limp onto the Fire/Flying dual type, who shivered at how...unnatural it felt. "Y-yikes! I'd better hurry!" He exclaimed, taking to the air as quick as possible, shooting upwards as quickly as possible, careful not to lose his cargo.

Hawlucha knelt down and offered his back to the fire fox. "Here, let's go Fennekin!" She blinked her tears away and jumped onto him without a word, only for more tears to take their place.

* * *

Fletchinder stood in front of the Pokemon Centre and looked at the door, waiting for it to open. "C'mon! C'mon!" He said, anxiously before he noticed the out of order sign. "What?! The door's...broken?!"

He cursed under his breathe before he felt Froakie's breath get even shallower. _"Alright door...You're going down!" _

He took a few steps back and shot into the air, throwing himself forward and building both heat and momentum. "FLAME CHARGE!" HE cried out as he smashed through the glass doors of the Pokemon Centre, much to the shock of the patrons and Nurse Joy.

Fletchinder flinched as he felt a few glass shards cut into the skin under his feathers, but continued to the front desk, facing a very disapproving Wigglytuff. "Wiggly Wigglytuff! (You better have a good reason for doing that!)"

"Fletchinder...Fletch! (My friend's been really hurt...Please help!)" He replied, manoeuvring Froakie, carefully, in front of her.

She and Nurse Joy gasped in horror and pushed down a panic button on the desk.

Suddenly, a red siren went off and four more Pokemon, two Wigglytuffs and two Cefables, burst out from the back room with a wheeled table, which they placed Froakie onto, and rushed to the back. Nurse Joy placed a hand on Fletchinder's shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.

"I promise we'll do all we can for him. In the meantime, Wigglytuff here will take a look at those cuts." Wigglytuff nodded, picking the bird up.

"Wigglytuff! (Let's take a look then!)" Fletchinder watched Froakie get wheeled away before he eventually gave into his own exhaustion and passed out.

* * *

"ASH! WATCH OUT FOR THE GLASS!" Serena cried out as said boy barged through the door and looked around frantically.

"Excuse me!" He called out to a man with a brown coat and bowler hat, about to leave through the side entrance to the centre. "Did you see my Fletchinder and Froakie?"

The man looked back and gave a nod. "I assume you mean the Fletchinder that smashed through that door right there." He said, motioning to the fragmented glass entrance, it's remains being continually crushed by the careful footsteps of his friends and their Pokemon. "Froakie was taken into P.I.C.H.U. now and Fletchinder is being looked at for a couple of cuts and bruises."

"Thank you so much sir!" Ash bowed before turning back to his friends and nodding to them as he approached the front desk. _"Man! This is like deja vu!" _He thought to himself as he had flash backs of running into the Pokemon centre with a bleeding Oshawott in his arms and a worried Snivy on his shoulder.

Ash had to steady himself on the front desk as he reached it, clenching his eyes shut to stop any tears from spilling. "Please be okay Froakie..." He whispered to himself, not noticing a young woman listening to him.

"Ah, so I assume that this is your Fletchinder then?" The younger Nurse Joy said, physically younger by about five years. Fletchinder turned, tiredly, towards Ash, happy to see his trainer. Ash looked back and smiled at the bird, gratefully.

"Yes..." He said, swiping Fletchinder off the table and hugging him. "I'm real proud of you buddy, thank you for getting him here so quickly!"

"Fletch...(You're welcome...)" They suddenly heard a ding, and the light indicating that surgery was taking place turned off.

Out of the surgery room came the five relieved faces of Nurse Joy and the four Fairy-Type Pokemon. "W-w-we did it..." Nurse Joy let out, shakily, glancing down at Froakie, who's chest had been wrapped up firmly by medical gauss and his arms being wrapping in much the same manner with surprisingly little done to his head. "So what had happened to the poor dear?"

"I think...I think he and Fennekin were playing to close to the edge of the cliff and they must of slipped and fell..." Ash said, screwing his eyes shut again. "This is all my fault! I should have been watching him!"

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to face Serena, smiling at him lightly. "It's not all your fault, Ash. I should have been watching Fennekin too..." Fennekin had heard this and just felt worse.

"_I can't believe they're blaming themselves! This is my fault, not there's!" _She thought to herself, feeling even more tears trying to fault.

"Now stop that, both of you!" Nurse Joy scolded, causing them to flinch. "This is nobody's fault! You can't have twenty-four hour surveillance of your Pokemon! These things happen and pointing blame is not going to help anyone!"

She ushered the four Pokemon to take Froakie to the back. "I'll let you know if he wakes up and I'll sort you out some rooms. However it's Pokemon only during the night, so I can't let you back there."

They all nodded except for Fennekin, who shook out of Serena's grip and ran towards where they rushed Froakie. "Fennekin!" Serena was about to go after her, before Nurse Joy put a hand on her shoulder.

"Leave it. I'm sure it just wants to check on Froakie." Clemont nodded.

"Yeah, and if she doesn't come back, I'm sure she's only staying to watch over him." Serena looked on, worried.

"Okay...If you're sure."

Dawn smiled, putting an arm around her. "Hey Fennekin looks strong enough to protect herself and Froakie, so no need to worry!"

"That's when I worry the most..." Ash said, still fretting over his Froakie.

* * *

Once the four Fairy-Type Pokemon left the room, after injecting some sort of liquid into an IV bag attached to Froakie's arm, Fennekin jumped onto the chair next to his bed, then onto the bed itself.

From there she looked into Froakie's peaceful face and sighed in relief. "Those Nurses are miracle workers..." She mumbled, making a mental note to let the Nurse Wigglytuffs know that more often.

She circled on the spot for a few seconds before finding a comfortable space to lay down and start thinking, already knowing that sleep is going to escape her tonight.

"Well...Thank you Froakie..." She whispered, knowing full well he can't hear her. He's asleep right now, so any words that fall on his ears would be wasted. Still, it's nice to practice. "...You...Y-you saved my life...A-at the risk o-of your own..."

She shook her head, freeing the tears that were lodged in the ducts. "I'm so so so so so so sorry!" She finally yelped, burying her face into the sheets below her. "This is all my fault! I should have listened to you! I should have gotten away from the ledge! It was a stupid thing to do! I...I-I...I..."

Froakie shivered a bit and Fennekin's head shot up to look at his slowly opening eyes. "Hi...Hi there...Strange orange blob..." Fennekin rose an eyebrow at the strange words, but was otherwise overjoyed that he was awake.

"F-froakie!" He smiled, excitedly.

"Where?!" He said, moving his head left and right, as if searching for him. Fennekin recoiled a bit.

"Um...You're Froakie, aren't you?"

"...Oh yeah!" He responded, grinning happily. "Woohoo!"

"Oookay, I think you need some more sleep." Fennekin concluded, stepping up to move the covers up and to tuck him in.

Froakie looked as the orange blob turned into the fox Pokemon he usually sees. But, his muddled loopy brain wouldn't let him have any control on what he was going to do or going to say.

So what he said, was. "Wow...You're really pretty..." Fennekin's eyes shot open and she turned to the half open irises of her Water-Type friend.

"Um...Thanks..." She replied, blushing slightly. She then looked down at herself and grimaced. Her fur was frizzy, their were frubbles on her chest and chin, there was dried blood on her paws and tear streaks down her face. _"I'm a mess!"_

"I'm only telling the truth..." She blushed again, but decided to let this go for now as she brought the covers just under his chin, nuzzling him in a friendly manner on the cheek.

"Try to get some sleep now, okay?" She said/asked, moving back to her spot on the bed to try and sleep herself.

After a few minutes, Froakie piked up again. "Can you tell me a story?" She looked up at him, quizzically. "My mommy used to tell me a story everytime I went to sleep."

"Well...Okay I guess I know one story...Once, there were these five special gears, called the Time Gears..." And so the night continued with the story falling on Froakie's ears until he eventually gave way into sleep and Fennekin, much to her amazement, managed to as well.

* * *

ML54: This is for one of my new favourite pairings! Froakie and Fennekin!

Fennekin: Please review, but no flames.


	2. Bad Moods and Boredom

ML54: Hi everybody!

Everybody: Hi ML54!

ML54: Well, here is our next chapter, and to save you all the trauma, I won't be doing surgery on it, but Bunnelby will do a disclaimer for it.

Bunnelby: Will I?

ML54: Yes you will!

Bunnelby: *Sighs* ML54 doesn't own Pokemon.

**Bad Moods and Boredom**

Fennekin awoke from a fairly uneasy sleep, images of the sharp stone impaling her friend's chest still fresh on her mind and the blood on her paws...both literally and figuratively.

She shook her head and glanced towards the peacefully sleeping frog, his frubbles expanding and contracting as he breathed in and out. A tear soon found it's way into her eye, but she quickly rubbed it away and jumped off the bed.

"_I'm probably the last Pokemon he'd want to see right now..." _She thought to herself, slipping out of the doorway and away from him. She just couldn't bear to see the anger or, even worse, the disappointment in his eyes.

* * *

"C'mon Piplup, it wasn't your fault." Cyndaquil said, trying to comfort his team mate. Piplup just shook her head.

"Of course it was my fault! If it wasn't for my little disco ball, none of this would've happened!" She exclaimed, holding her flippers on her forehead and resting her elbows on her knees. **(Or the equivalent of elbows and knees)**

Chikorita wrapped a vine around her friend's shoulders. "Hey now, you were focused on your performance. There's no way you could have known they'd be near the edge."

"Yeah...But if it makes you feel any better, you could apologise when Froakie wakes up. And hey, there's Fennekin now!" Cyndaquil continued, pointing towards the fire fox who was walking towards the exit towards the garden of the Pokemon Centre.

"...Yeah...I guess I should..." Piplup said, standing.

Before she left, however, she gave both of her team mates a hug. "Thanks guys. You're the best!"

"We try." Chikorita smiled as the penguin walked away. Once she was out of earshot, Chikorita cast a curious glance towards Cyndaquil. "Hey, I thought you hated Piplup?"

Cyndaquil recoiled a bit. "What?! I never hated Piplup! Sure, we argue a lot, but when it comes down to it we're still friends...very dysfunctional friends but friends none-the-less."

"Oh..." Chikorita blushed a bit in embarrassment. "Sorry..."

"Hey it's alright."

* * *

"Hey Fennekin!" Piplup called out, causing the fox to stop in her tracks. She turned to the Sinnoh starter, curiously.

"Um...Hi Piplup?" She said, quickly rubbing her eyes free of the tears she was sure were about to start falling. "What's up?"

"Well...I just wanted to apologize...If it wasn't for my disco ball, you wouldn't have..." Was about as far as she got before Fennekin growled at her.

"STOP IT!" She yelled, her eyes misting up again. "WOULD EVERYONE STOP BLAMING THEMSELVES! IT'S MY FAULT AND MINE ALONE! I SHOULDN'T HAVE EVER BEEN NEAR THAT LEDGE IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

Piplup, understandably, recoiled at Fennekin's loud yelling and backed up a bit. "Hey I didn't exactly help things by blinding you. I just wanted to..."

"WELL DON'T!" Fennekin snapped, before running away from the penguin, who was standing there, a little shocked about what had happened.

"*yawn* Piplup?" She heard from behind her and she turned to find Pikachu standing there, looking like he had just woken up. "What's wrong?"

Piplup pointing down the hallway, towards where Fennekin had run. "I was just apologizing to Fennekin for blinding her with my Whirlpool disco ball and she blew up at me and ran away." Pikachu nodded, now a little more concerned.

"Hm. I think I know what this is about."

"You do? What?" Piplup asked, curiously. Pikachu sighed.

"She's going through the same thing I felt when I got Oshawott hurt." He cringed as he thought about that old wound. "It was the worst thing I had ever done and I couldn't help but think about how it was all my fault and that I was beyond forgiveness..."

"But we did forgive you." Piplup replied, confused. Pikachu smiled a bit.

"Yeah you did, but at the time I didn't feel like I deserved it. That everyone SHOULD hate me for what I did. It was their duty to hate me after that..." Pikachu sighed, before looking at Piplup, fondly. "I learned that day that a true friend will always forgive you even if you make a mistake. That, in the end, nobody's perfect. We all have our faults...mine was jealousy."

"Yeah. You sure are scary when you're jealous." Piplup answered. "So Fennekin is pretty much thinking that she's beyond forgiveness...How do we show her she's not then?"

"The same way I found that I wasn't..." Pikachu answered, glancing towards Froakie's room. "She needs to talk to Froakie. I'll go find her, you go get some food, I think Buneary wanted to talk to you about something."

"Okay..." Piplup answered, about to walk away, before she grinned at him. "Oh and by the way. Nice hickey."

Pikachu blinked, before looking into the conveniently placed mirror beside him and saw that he, in fact, had a bright red love bite showing on his neck, just under his chin.

"Guess Buneary finally made you a man, huh?" Piplup grinned, teasingly at him while he blushed brightly.

"Sh-shut up!"

* * *

Froakie sighed as he stared at the ceiling in his room, waiting for someone to come in. One of the Wigglytuff had walked in earlier to give him his food. Luckily one of his arms had come out of the fall relatively unscathed, so he was able to eat his food himself. He did not want to be paw fed!

But now, with his breakfast consumed and everyone else apparently elsewhere, he had nothing to do. The room had nothing recreational in there and, even if it did, he wasn't likely to be able to get it.

"Bored...Bored..." He kept muttering to himself, trying to entertain himself by counting how many tiles the ceiling was made up of. _"It wouldn't be so ba if the room wasn't painted the dullest shade of white there is!" _He thought to himself as he initiated the counting.

* * *

"I'm sorry Ash but visiting hours aren't for another hour for humans." Nurse Joy had said, looking apologetically at the boy who had dark bags gathering under his bloodshot eyes. He was unable to get any sleep last night, extremely worried about Froakie's health.

"Alright..." Ash sighed as a yawn escaped his lungs.

"You should try to get a little sleep." She continued, to which Ash shook his head.

"No can do. Not until I see Froakie." He replied as he stumbled towards his friends, their Pokemon all at their feet except Pikachu and Fennekin. "One hour..."

"Ash you need to sleep!" Bonnie exclaimed, looking worried. Dedenne mirrored her expression on top of her head.

Ash sat down and waved her off. "I'll be fine Bonnie." He answered, leaning his back against the pillar behind him. Serena sighed and tilted his head forward a bit, slipping a small cushion behind his head, before he leaned back against that.

Dawn rose an eyebrow, to which Serena answered. "He's always falling asleep in funny places, so I just carry it around with me."

"Ah..." She replied, rubbing her chin, thoughtfully. "Maybe me or Brock should have done that..."

* * *

Fennekin sat on the cliff edge that Froakie and her fell off the day before, looking down at the massive drop before her. _"It should've been me..." _She thought to herself, replaying the events of yesterday over in her head.

The horrific scene of Froakie hitting the ground, breaking her fall and getting pierced in the chest by that rock. The blood...The blood that still painted her paws. She just couldn't bring herself up to clean herself up right now.

She didn't want to clean it off either. Didn't want to clean it and pretend that yesterday didn't happen. She couldn't fool herself into thinking that if her fur became as pristine as it usually was that Froakie would sit next to her, completely fine, telling her that the group was ready to move on.

She felt a presence next to her and turned to face...

...someone.

The Pokemon was a brown fox creature with a white mane and a big, bushy tail. "So...What ya thinkin'?" The Pokemon, female by voice, asked in concern.

"Um...I'm sorry, who are you?" The brown Pokemon grinned.

"Oh right, sorry 'bout that partner, Ah git a little carried away sometimes. Ah'm Eevee!" She answered in a southern drawl in her voice. Fennekin nodded, looking away and back down towards the ground.

"Fennekin..." Eevee glanced at her, then down the cliff, then at her again.

"Um...Ya ain't thinkin' 'bout jumpin', are ya?" She asked, now even more concerned. "Cause Ah ain't a whole lotta good at tha whole, negotiatin' thin'."

"No..." She responded quietly. As tempting as it was to 'take the easy way out', she couldn't make what Froakie did for her in vain or leave her trainer alone.

"This 'bout ya little Froakie friend then?" Fennekin turned, startled. "Yeah, Ah saw tha whole thin'."

"Oh...Um...Why were you watching?"

"Ah saw tha little light show an' Ah decided ta watch." She answered, bumping her shoulder into Fennekin's. "Ya got yerself an incredibly selfless boyfriend, ya know?"

"...Boyfriend!" Fennekin yelped, a little shocked. "We're not...I mean we aren't..." Eevee rose an eyebrow at her.

"...Wow. Why not?" Fennekin paused at the odd question.

"Uh...Because...We're just friends!"

"That ain't a reason." The Eevee grinned. "Some o' tha best couple Ah know started as 'just friends'."

"B-but...Why would he want me?!" Fennekin exclaimed, not even bothering to choose her words carefully. "I'm the reason he almost died! I ignored him while he was trying to keep me safe! He has NO reason to even be remotely interested in me!"

The Eevee stared at her blankly for a few seconds before her eyes became half lidded and she said, in a deadpan tone. "Yer kiddin', right?"

"W-what?"

"Sugar, Ah know Pokemon who have been together fer YEARS who wouldn't do fer their significant other what that boy did fer ya." She explained, pacing back and forth in front of her as if she were giving a speech. "Ah'd say, if he isn't in love wit' ya, that Ah'd eat mah own tail!"

Fennekin stared forward, past the Eevee as if she were seeing everything in front of her all at once. _"It'd explain why he was so angry while I was ignoring him too..." _She felt a bit of red stain her cheeks as the thought of Froakie suddenly appearing in there.

"Fennekin!" Pikachu called out to her as he skidded to a halt in front of her. He glanced at the Eevee and nodded in greeting. "Hey stranger."

"Howdy." She replied, smiling. "Say weren't ya with that guy with tha hat?"

"Um...Ash, yeah. Sorry, I just need to check on..."

"I'm going to go see Froakie!" Fennekin suddenly declared, proudly, before rushing back towards the Pokemon Centre. Pikachu hopped out of her way in surprise, gawking in her direction.

The Eevee laughed and poked him in the shoulder. "Took care o' it, now this is tha part where ya ask why Ah was curious." Pikachu shook his head and faced the fox in a look of both gratitude and disbelief.

"Um...Right, why did you want to know?"

"Well, Ah saw y'all trainin' a few times an' thought that ya looked like y'all were havin' fun. So Ah wanted ta know if'n he had space fer one more?"

Pikachu blinked before grinning and nodding his head towards the Centre. "I'm sure he does, but you'd better ask him yourself." He said, leading Eevee towards the building. Eevee spotted something and grinned, amused.

"Nice love bite, Romeo." Pikachu's eyes shot open and he rubbed the spot where Buneary got a little frisky the night before. "Shame yer taken, yer awfully cute."

"Sh-shut up..."

* * *

Fennekin raced off ahead of the two and towards the Pokemon Centre, dead set on seeing Froakie again. She couldn't shake the feelings that Eevee had brought up. _"Does he really feel that way about me?" _

There hadn't really been many incidents that Fennekin can think up to support the statement that the evolution Pokemon had made except a few subtle blushes that she noticed on him a couple of times. Such as the Bamboo forest when they all got separated from their trainers and he cleaned her tail for her.

She smiled to herself as she remembered that. It was a very nice thing for him to do for her, despite how little it mattered in the situation they were in. She didn't like being dirty at all, so to her he was like a saving grace.

She fought some red off of her own cheeks as she paused by the Pokemon Centre's pond. What was she thinking? She can't like Froakie like that...can she?

"_I guess I never really thought about it..." _She continued as she sat and stared at her reflection in the water pool. She hardly even recognised the Pokemon staring back at her though, as she had dirt staining her fur, as well as Froakie's blood and her cheeks were matted down with dried tears.

"_I can't look like this in front of him!" _She thought as she took a quick dip in the water and jumped back out to start rubbing some of the stains out.

After she had done that, she shook herself dry and started to lick her paw to groom herself before she paused. _"W-wait! Why do I care so much about HIM seeing me like this?! Unless..."_

Her eyes widened as she laid her paw against her chest. _"U-unless I actually DO like him!"_

She shook her head and ran towards his room. _"No! I just think I like him because he saved my life!"_

She was satisfied with that answer before another thought struck her. _"But then...Why have I been thinking about him so much lately!" _

See, her interest in the frog like Pokemon didn't appear out of nowhere. She had been looking at him differently ever since Professor Sycamore's Pokemon Camp when they made that Pokevision clip.

It was one of the first times she had seen him enjoy himself and have fun rather than training. Sure he might have fun training, but the big smile he had when they were running around and playing tag was refreshing.

Then she had seen him dancing. Admittedly, he could use some work, but he seemed to have fun. She then started thinking about maybe trying to dance with him at some point, but she didn't think anything of it, seeing that friends can dance together too!

She sighed as she leaned against the wall, noticing Froakie's room to her left. "I guess...I do kind of like him..." She muttered softly.

"I knew it!" She jumped, startled, and turned to find Chespin grinning and jumping like he had won some sort of bet. "I knew you liked Froakie!"

"Ch-chespin!" Fennekin exclaimed, covering his mouth with her paw. "Please shut up! Froakie is in there, not in Kanto!"

Chespin rubbed the back of his head, sheepishly as she removed her paw. "Hehe, sorry about that. But still, this is great!"

"Um...How so?" She asked, confused.

"It means Bunnelby owes me three oran berries!" He clarified, before rushing towards the waiting room. "He's all alone in there, by the way!"

Fennekin sighed as she walked towards the door before another thought struck her. _"Wait...Chespin's not gonna...Oh Arceus no..." _

* * *

"Really!" Dedenne exclaimed, excitedly, peering up at Chespin.

"Yup, heard it straight from the Ponyta's mouth!" He clarified, pointing at Bunnelby. "So a deals a deal!"

"Urg! Fine!" Bunnelby said, reaching into Bonnie's bag for his pouch and handing over the berries. "Happy now!"

"Very much so!" Chespin answered, eating all three of the berries in one go.

"So now what?!" Dedenne asked with curiousity. "Are they gonna get together or what?"

"I don't know...I guess only the future will tell..."

* * *

ML54: Til next time, read and review and constructive critisism only!


	3. Reconciling

ML54: Hey guys! Don't worry Im not dead!

Fennekin: AH! A GHOST!

Random Ghost: Show off...

ML54: I'm sorry about the late update and short chapter but, as it says on my profile, I have a bit of a crisis going on right now but here's a little bit of good faith that I haven't forgotten about this story. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter and please read and review, but don't flame me. I love you guys! :)

**Reconciling**

Fennekin entered the room, carefully, as to not disturb the frog Pokemon who sat in his bed, staring at the ceiling.

The plan had ultimately failed, however, seeing as how it was so quiet that the door opening had the subtlety of an earthquake. Froakie looked to the door and met her eyes.

The two just sat there for a minute, unsure of what to do or say. Fennekin was too nervous due to the guilt that was still weighing down on her heart and the butterflies building in her stomach from her new found admiration for the blue Pokemon.

Froakie's silence was caused more that he didn't really know what to say. He wasn't upset, that was for sure, but he didn't know how to feel about the fact that she had completely ignored him when he tried to keep her safe.

This combination led to a very awkward silence to pass between them.

Fennekin opened her mouth, desperate to get the apology that she wanted, oh so desperately, to give to him but couldn't seem to find the words.

"_C'mon Fennekin! It's two words! It's not that difficult, you've said them before!" _She scolded herself, shaking her head in an attempt to shake her fear away.

It didn't work and she still couldn't get the words out.

To his credit, Froakie didn't get impatient with her. He just sat and gave her a reassuring look. Though he wasn't smiling, she could tell that it wasn't because of any ill will towards her. It just wasn't really the moment for one.

Fennekin ultimately sighed, and prepared to turn away. _"Way to go, genius! Now you've made yourself look like an idiot! Just say those two stupid words!"_

"I'm sorry..." She heard the words finally reach the air and she sighed in relief...

...before she realised that she didn't say them.

She turned and gazed upon the blue frog Pokemon who had taken to looking down upon the bed spread before him, actively avoiding her line of sight. She raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Why are you sorry?" Fennekin blurted out, not really knowing what else to say after that. "_What does Froakie have to be sorry for? I'm the one who got him hurt!"_

However Froakie's expression made it seem that it wasn't quite that simple. He moved his hand to stroke his neck, as if in some sort of discomfort. Fennekin approached the bed and hopped up onto it like she did the previous night so Froakie could lower his voice to help make things a little easier for him.

He sighed in relief and, in a lower voice, replied. "I...I shouldn't have been so pushy. I didn't...mean to...seem like...I was trying to order you around," He got out, pausing every so often to relax his throat a bit. The painkillers had helped him talk freely last night, but they also made him light headed and loopy, so you know. A bit of a double edged sword.

Fennekin looked at him, incredulously, almost as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What?! Are you listening to yourself?!" She yelled, snapping again.

Froakie, surprisingly, wasn't that startled with her response. He had heard the way she snapped at Piplup earlier so was prepared for the whole 'It's all my fault' speech and was ready to prove her wrong.

But something else entirely happened.

She growled, with her eyes starting to well up with tears. "I could've killed myself! I could've left my trainer, alone and heartbroken! I could've landed on someone and gotten them killed...But you saved me..."

She gasped after a little sob to try to keep the water works from flowing, and trembled as she continued. "You just dived in and almost sacrificed yourself to save me! No regard to whether you'd make it out alive or not! I just...I...I can't thank you enough..."

She finally broke down and wrapped her front paws around Froakie, careful not to upset is position too much. "I know you'll tell...t-tell me it w-wasn't my fault i-if I said it w-was...or say th-that I'm sorry...But there's n-no way you can take this...You're my hero Froakie and I don't care what you think about that!"

Froakie just sat there, frozen in shock about how these events transpired, too lost to even noticed the pain his body felt as she squeezed a few sore spots in his shoulders. All he noticed was the pristine orange fur brushing against his mist blue skin, how warm she felt to the touch and how much she smelt of wood-pine.

Fennekin sniffed and leaned her head back to look him in the eyes, already getting herself caught in a trap of sorts. Those large bulbs just seemed to light up the place and she felt blood rush to her cheeks so that her cheeks matched his.

"It's...It's okay Fenny..." Froakie replied, condensing her name down into a more easily manageable word. Fennekin however, blushed at the new name and started to feel a few small embers fall from her ear fur and dissipate into the air, as if her body was trying to cool her face down itself.

"I...I um...I..." Fennekin tried to say something, but soon found herself caught, flushed, vulnerable and above all else, really attracted to him right now.

But her next move probably wasn't the brightest.

She shot her face forwards and met his lips with her own, feeling like if she didn't she would explode. It caught the frog completely off guard, his wide open eyes being an indicator to his confusion.

Fennekin had held her eyes closed as she did this, trying her best to coax his lips to move against hers in some way. His lips were pretty dry, mainly because he can't really get water himself and, thus, hasn't drunken anything yet. They were rough and almost calloused compared to her moist and soft ones.

But that didn't matter to her. All that mattered to her was who those lips belonged to. The frog Pokemon who had, inadvertently, stolen her heart and had no intentions of giving back anytime soon.

Soon though, her thoughts had caught up to her and her eyes snapped open to meet his ones, that were still confused, but to a much lesser degree. Now it was whether or not he should kiss back or how he goes about doing that.

Before he could think on that, Fennekin jumped away from him and quivered, shrinking into herself, curling up as if to hide in her own fur. "I...I-I...I'm sorry...I...should go!"

"Wait..." Froakie called out, but she had ran off before he could continue, leaving a very confused and disappointed frog behind.

"...I love you..." He whispered to himself, feeling himself tear up at how complicated this situation really was now since he couldn't seek her out and she would have to come to him. "...Damn it..."


	4. Confused

ML54: I'm so so so so so so sorry! I've been all over the place on Facebook and FiMFiction that I completely forgot about this fic!

Pikachu: Stone him!

Chespin: Oh cool! We haven't stoned anyone in about three days! *Throws Stone*

ML54: OW! Quit it! Ow! I don't own Pokemon! OW!

**Confused**

Fennekin's eyes misted up again so she, for the eighth time today, dunked her head under the water of the pond in the Pokemon Centre's garden to rid her of the thoughts ailing her.

"Stupid!" She growled at herself, pounding the water as strongly as she could with her paw in anger. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

"Hey now, what's the water ever done to you?" She heard from behind her and turned to find Buneary, sitting beside her and gathering some water into her paws to splash into her face.

"Shouldn't you be glomping Pikachu right now?" Fennekin replied, not really in the mood to talk to anyone, especially someone who is, by all accounts, a stranger.

Buneary just gave her a smile and shook her head. "I would, but you're obviously upset. Pikachu wouldn't leave you in your misery, so I won't either," She explained, nudging the Fire-Type in the shoulder. "Besides, he can live without me for a few minutes."

"...You make it sound as if it'll only take a few minutes to console me," Fennekin dead-panned, dunking her muzzle under the water to take a drink. All the crying and shouting she had done recently had made her throat incredibly sore and dry.

"Depends," Buneary started, taking a small drink from the water she grabbed with her paws. "What's the problem and I'll decide if I should pack an overnight kit."

Fennekin giggled once she emerged from the water and decided she could trust this Pokemon. Maybe, deep down, she wanted someone to vent to, but she could tell Buneary was nice. She had to be if she was _Pikachu's_ girlfriend!

"W-well...It all started yesterday when Froakie saved my life," She started, starting to feel guilty again before she pushed it down. She had enough emotions running around her right now, she didn't need that one getting mixed in as well. "I...I thought he would die. That he'd die saving me..."

"But he didn't," Buneary interrupted, placing her paw on the fox's shoulder. "So stop beating yourself up over it, I'm sure he doesn't want you to, or it'd defeat the purpose of the whole, saving you thing."

"I...I guess. Then this morning, I went out to the cliff side to think about a few things," She felt a shudder run through her at how close she was to convincing herself to step forward and finish herself off. "Then this Eevee came and talked to me, much like you're doing now."

"Ah yes, I believe she joined Ash's team earlier. I was wondering where she came from," Buneary said to herself, before sheepishly turning back towards Fennekin's raise eyebrow. "I'm sorry, continue."

"Right, so anyway she seemed to convince me that Froakie might have feelings for me...Then I started contemplating my own feelings for him and...a-and..."

Buneary was suddenly enveloped into a hug by the yellow fox, who had tears spilling out again. "And I don't know how I feel! Half of me thinks I have feelings for him, while my other half thinks that he's just a friend! And now that I've kissed him, I think I've given him the wrong impression but I don't even know what impression I was trying to make and...and...and...I'm confused!"

The rabbit rubbed Fennekin's back as soothingly as she could, massaging it in some places, allowing her to let her tears out and attempt to talk after she was done.

* * *

"Froakie, you okay?" Chespin asked from the door. It was still ten minutes before humans were allowed in and he had seen Fennekin run out a second ago.

"Yeah, I'm fine," He heard Froakie respond, still slightly pained by the strain on his throat, but it was easy to hear the lacklustre way he said it or the sigh he added at the end. He was anything but.

Chespin entered the room and jumped onto the bed, raising his eyebrow. Froakie was just staring at the door longingly, almost as if he wished for nothing more than to be able to run outside. "Hey don't worry bud! Nurse Joy will have you up and at 'em in no time!"

Froakie regarded Chespin before smiling a bit at his words. "Thanks...but that's not it," He said, before he thought the words over. "Well...not really."

Chespin scratched his head a bit in confusion. "What do ya mean by that?"

"It's kinda...personal,"

Chespin just grinned and lightly tapped Froakie on his good arm. "Oh c'mon, what's personal between best buddies!"

Froakie rose his pokebrow at him. "I thought...Bunnelby was your best...friend?"

"I can have more than one best friend!" Chespin argued, crossing his arms in defiance. "With as many friends as I have, you'd need to have more than one!"

Froakie glanced down to think over a few things, before shrugging. Chespin was harmless enough. "Alright fine...but you have to promise...not to tell anyone else!"

"Okay, I promise," Chespin replied, laying his hand over his chest. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a needle in my eye!"

Froakie nodded, glancing towards the door just in case someone was there.

When it was clear that there as still a few minutes before Ash could come see him, he enlightened Chespin of what happened earlier. "Well Fennekin came in...I apologised...for being mean to her...she thanked me for saving her...hugged me for a bit and then...she kissed me..."

Chespin's eyes lit up and grinned in pride, interrupting the frog. "Oh my dear Froakie just got his first kiss, oh I'm so proud of you!" He teased, pinching his cheek.

Froakie screwed his eyes up and used his good arm to swat his hand away. "Anyway, after she...did that she ran off...crying..." He sighed, looking towards the door once more. "I can't go...after her..."

Chespin grinned and laid a hand over his, knowing that it was time to get serious. "Don't worry, Loverboy, I'm sure she'll come back to tell you how she feels!" Froakie glared at him.

"I'm being serious here...Chespin..."

"And so am I!" The grass-type clarified, patting his hand a few times. "If she kissed you she must be, at the very least, interested in you. Just be yourself and I'm sure you'll win that vixen's heart!"

Froakie felt a small smile crawl onto his face at that. Despite how Chespin can be at times, he does know what to say and when to say it. "Thanks Chespin...You're a good...friend..."

"The best?" Chespin asked, hopefully. Froakie just rolled his eyes lightly, an undertone of amusement in them.

"Sure..."

* * *

"You okay now, Fennekin?" Buneary asked after all her new friend's tears had dried up. Fennekin hiccuped a couple of times, but nodded.

"Good now I just want you to answer me a simple question," The fire-type nodded. "Do you love him?"

Fennekin recoiled a little at the blunt question, but thought it over. It was both one of the simplest, yes or no questions she had heard and, yet, one of the most difficult to answer.

If she were to have been asked this question yesterday, she would have answered a solid no. But, with all the things that Eevee had shed to light. About his possible feelings for her, her hidden admiration and all those little moments and things that she started to notice about him made her question herself.

But, in the end, she did know the true answer. "No," She sighed, feeling a small pang inside her, but she pushed it down for now. "I can't, I've never thought about him like that before and, maybe, the only reason I'm thinking like this about him now is because he saved me."

Buneary down-casted her eyes, looking slightly disappointed but just smiled none-the-less. "I understand, that's fine. But then why is it so hard to be around him and explain your actions?"

"Because...! I...! I don't know," Fennekin mumbled, kicking the dirt to her side. "I guess I'm just..."

"Confused?" Fennekin nodded, getting Buneary to grin. "Trust me, I went through the same thing when I first saw Pikachu, but I'll tell you about that another time," She quickly added, to stop Fennekin from changing the subject.

Fennekin just puffed out her cheeks, causing Buneary to giggle a bit and say. "I'm sure Pikachu will want to tell that story to you all with me."

* * *

"Hey Professor Oak," Ash said to his town's resident Pokemon Researcher, Pikachu excitedly waving to Oak from his shoulder.

"Hello Ash and Pikachu! To what do I owe this...early morning call?" He replied, yawning a bit.

"I know it's early, but I just...One of my Pokemon got hurt really badly so I'll be staying in Coumarine City for a while. I just thought I'd let you know," Oak immediately dropped all his previous fatigue and looked alert.

"Is it okay?"

"Froakie's fine, just recovering in P.I.C.H.U. right now. It was a close call though," Oak hummed a bit, fetching a PokeBall from a nearby table.

"That's good to hear. I have a suggestion though. Since Oshawott also stayed in P.I.C.H.U. maybe he could help Froakie feel a little more at ease about what might happen," He explained, placing Oshawott's PokeBall on the teleport tray. "Just don't send him out right away, he's still sleeping off a big battle he had with your Corphish."

"I won't, don't worry. Thanks a lot Professor, I hope to hear from you soon!" Oak smiled and activated the teleport device to send Oshawott over.

Ash saw the PokeBall and picked it up, grinning. "I hope Snivy doesn't mind if I borrow him, huh Pikachu?"

Pikachu just gave him an unsure grin, not certain about whether or not he should try to arrange his trainer's funeral.

* * *

ML54: *Rubs head sores* Had your fill?

Pokemon: *Nods*

ML54: Good, now then I really apologise for everything that's been going on. I know it's a little late but I will try and get the next update out sooner! Til then, read and Review but please no flaming.


	5. What is Love?

ML54: Hey guys, sorry about the delay. What with University and everything, I just forgot all about this fic!

Froakie: Okay? And how long has this chapter been done then?

ML54: ...two months.

Pikachu: ...Stone him!

ML54: Not again! OW I don't own OW Pokemon...OW!

**What is Love?**

Fennekin smiled a little, happy to have been able to vent these conflicts raging around in her head. Sure, they were still slowly swimming in the pool of her mind, but she was sure they'd sink after a couple of days when she got over the hero worship stage and got back to liking Froakie as a friend.

As she thought that, another pang hit her chest and she grunted. _"Arg! There's that pain again, what is that?" _

She shook her thoughts away for a second when she heard a commotion in the Pokemon Reception. As she got closer, however, she could swear she could hear the familiar sounds of Pikachu struggling against something. _"Oh no! Team Rocket or, worse, someone competent could be trying to steal Pikachu!" _

She charged into the room, a determined frown etched onto her face, preparing a powerful Flamethrower for anyone who decided to be stupid enough to attack them in the middle of the day...

...that soon turned to a few flickering embers and a confused expression made itself known to her features.

Because, in the middle of the room, Pikachu was being hugged and swung round by some blue and white Pokemon that she didn't recognise. "Pikachu! It's so good to see you again!"

Pikachu, with a slightly purple face, trying his best not to let off a Thunderbolt, wiggled around and tried to do...something to get out of the new Pokemon's grip. "Osha...wott...you're...choke...ing...me!"

Oshawott blinked, looked up at his friends face and quickly dropped him, grinning. "Eheh, sorry bud, it's just I haven't seen you in so long! I missed you, pal!"

"Heh, yeah. I missed you too, you big Goofball!" Pikachu replied, punching him in the arm, causing the Water-Type to chuckle and notice the Fire-Type.

"Oh hey, are you one of our new team-mates?"

Pikachu turned to her and smiled, waving her over. "Nah, this is Serena's Pokemon, Fennekin. Fennekin, this is my best friend, Oshawott!" Fennekin's eye popped out a little at that declaration.

"Huh? How'd you get title of 'best' friend. As far as I see it, Pikachu has a lot of friends," Oshawott grinned, punching Pikachu's shoulder while the mouse's ears flopped down, already knowing how and it was kinda embarrassing.

"Well, I gave him a few pointers in the art of flirting and he managed to not look like an inexperienced idiot in front of the love of his life!"

"...Well jeez, when you word it like that, it sounds really embarrassing," Pikachu replied, glaring at Oshawott, who laughed a bit.

"Ah, you can't do everything, Mr. Perfect," Oshawott teased him, getting a blush out of the yellow Pokemon. Fennekin blinked at them, before let out a few giggles herself.

"_I like this guy, he's sounds like a lot of fun!" _She thought to herself, before she glanced left and noticed Eevee standing there and jumped back a bit. "WHERE THE HECK DID YOU COME FROM?!"

Eevee turned to her fellow fox and grinned. "Blame mah parents, sweetie," She remarked, turning to the otter. "Howdy, Ah'm actually a knew gal on yer team, Ah'm Eevee. Pleased ta make yer acquaintance!" She announced, holding out a paw.

Oshawott smiled, holding out a paw to shake hers. "Oshawo-" Was as far as he got before the little brown Pokemon started to shake his arm, up and down, wildly and forcibly, nearly knocking him over a few times.

"Oshawott, huh? Been a while since Ah saw some o' ya species round these parts," She commented, smiling while Oshawott rubbed his arm with an obviously pained expression on his face.

"...You remind me of cartoon I saw once," He replied, not really noticing her comment.

"Yeah, Ah get told that a lot," She grinned, cheekily. "It's real funny when Ah tell 'em Ah know Mega Kick too. They just buy it an' don't do anything ta set me off!" She laughed, causing the three of them to laugh, nervously, and take a cautious step back.

"...Well, this has been fun, but I'm apparently here to cheer up a fellow Water-Type in need!" Oshawott declared, holding a paw to his chest, taking up a heroic pose while Pikachu held a paw over his face in exasperation. "And I may suck as a battler, but I certainly know how to entertain people! I just kinda wish I had my magic set..."

"I thinks it's in everyone's best interest if you didn't have that," Pikachu groaned, causing the two girls to giggled as he dragged the Water-Type away. "Last time you did, you convinced everyone you made Scraggy disappear and Emolga appear in her place!"

"Hey! It's not _my _fault that nobody at the lab knew that Ash and Iris traded them, I just saw an opportunity and I took it!"

As they left, Eevee nudged Fennekin in the shoulder. "So Ah heard from that cute lil' Chespin friend o' yers that ya talked ta that blue guy, how'd it go?"

Fennekin smiled back at her new friend and answered. "It went...Well, as well as can be expected," Eevee noticed the sparkle in her eyes and chuckled, knowingly.

"That mean ya got yerself a boyfriend then?" She replied, causing Fennekin's eyes to widen and her face to flush up.

"W-what? No! I mean, well I don't..." Fennekin flinched, looking up at Eevee and sighed. "I'm not in love with him..."

After she said that, the Normal-Type started to laugh and caused Fennekin to look up in surprise. "Well Ah sure as shootin' didn't ask if ya did. Ah asked if ya had boyfriend, now didn't I?"

Fennekin tilted her head to the side in confusion. "What's the difference?"

Eevee blinked and looked at her in disbelief. "Y-ya...Ya don't know tha difference between datin' and bein' in love?" When Fennekin shook her head, Eevee glanced at the door and waved towards it. "You are familiar with tha outside world, aren't you?"

"Yes!" Fennekin replied, narrowing her eyes. "And Serena reads me stories all the time and they say that people who're in love date and get married and stuff."

Eevee blinked, before her face held a deadpan look and she sighed. "Ya got romantic advice from books?" When she nodded, she rolled her eyes. "Yer startin' ta sound a lot like another cartoon character from tha same show, Miss 'goes crazy and over thinks things, lookin' ta books fer tha answer'."

"Hey!" Fennekin snapped back, turning and folding her front paws in front of herself. The Eevee chuckled and gave her a one-pawed hugged.

"Aw, ya know Ah'm just windin' ya up!" Eevee grinned, rubbing her face into the side of Fennekin's, causing her face to light up.

"Um...Personal space?" She asked, nervously. Eevee just rolled her eyes, unhooking her arm from around her.

"Ya make it sound like Ah'm gonna kiss ya or something!" Eevee laughed, causing Fennekin to kick the floor, nervously. "Ah bet ya wouldn't mind a kiss from ya knight in bubbly armour, huh?" She teased, causing the Fire-Type's face to light up. "Wait...Ya got a kiss from tha blue guy?!"

She flinched at that, especially when she noticed Hawlucha and Dedenne look over in their direction. "No...I kinda...kissed him."

"You kissed Froakie!" Dedenne asked, lighting up at the possible romance in the air. Hawlucha just shrugged and went back to leaning against his pillar. Like all bad-asses do!

"Uh...Yeah, I guess I did. But it didn't mean anything!" Fennekin quickly added, before the little Electric-Type can go spreading the 'New, aspiring couple' rising in their group. Eevee rolled her eyes.

"Careful there, you'll sound like one o' those Dare-Care Dittoes," She mentioned, grinning at her new friend's reaction, which was for her face to flare up again and to stutter out a response. _She's just too easy ta tease._

"I-I...I don't...I can't...It won't...GAH!" She yelped, causing Eevee to put a soothing paw on her shoulder.

"Look, it's okay if yer not in love with tha guy, Ah wouldn't expect yer view of him ta change over night. But at least give him a date or two before completely rejectin' him," Eevee reasoned with her, causing the fox to look up at her and the little mouse now on Eevee's head.

"Yeah! He's, like, madly in love with you, you know?!" Fennekin's eyes flew open again, causing Dedenne to match her look. "...And I wasn't supposed to tell you that! Just forget what I said!"

"...What?"

"Yeah! Like that! Perfect!" She smiled, before she felt a brown paw nudge her side.

"Ah think she's confused, sugar, she heard ya," Eevee explained, causing Dedenne to fall off of her in horror.

"No! I broke a promise! Now I owe Chespin two Pecha Berries! Why?!" She cried out, dramatically, before falling asleep besides them with overly-dramatic snores.

Fennekin blinked when the words finally caught up with her. "Oh no..."

Eevee gave her friend a sympathetic look. "Ah really do think ya should give him a chance but, in tha end, it's yer decision."

Just as Eevee was about to leave, Fennekin stopped her. "Wait! Could you just answer one question? And be honest with me! No teasing!"

Eevee blinked, but nodded in agreement. Fennekin sighed. "What exactly _is_ love, then? You seem to know."

Fennekin waited for an answer, before Eevee shook her head. "Sorry, sweetie, but Ah haven't tha foggiest idea what love is," She answered to a bewildered looking Pokemon. "It's a good thing, don't get me wrong, but it's always different fer everyone. A love fer one's friends is different than love fer one's mate an' such..."

"Then...How would you know if I didn't..."

"Ah didn't, it's just something Ah assumed, really. Shouldn't o' done that," Eevee replied, shaking her head. "Tha point is, there isn't an answer. People have debated and argued over it ferever and we'll likely never get a real answer."

Fennekin's head lowered in contemplation as Eevee left, thinking everything through. _"What should I do? I don't love him...But maybe I could fall in love with him," _When her chest didn't start hurting again, she knew what she had to do.

* * *

ML54: Hey guys, thanks for being patient if you're still reading! Please review, and don't worry, I know where this story is heading!


	6. Setting a Date

ML54: Hey Guys, how's it hanging? Just got around to finishing this chapter between some coursework I have due at the end of the month, so don't expect much over the next two weeks.

Froakie: Or three months.

ML54: Do you want to go to the naughty corner?

Froakie: ...No, there are Joltiks in there.

ML54: Good. I don't own Pokemon...Oh and one more thing, I'd like to ask that everyone please stop reviewing my MLP stories to tell me to update my Pokemon ones. Even if you're telling me you're not trying to be rude, it certainly comes across that way. And just because I update a MLP horror story, doesn't mean I'd be in the right frame of mind to update a light-hearted, RomCom Pokemon story. They're kinda on opposite ends of the spectrum. Sorry for the rant and enjoy the story. :D

**Setting a Date**

"...and then, after me and Snivy got done cleaning ourselves up, we left the Tunnel of Love, where we met everyone else who were apparently looking for us. Weird, right?" Oshawott said to the blushing Froakie and an embarressed Pikachu behind him, holding a paw over his eyes.

"Oshawott! He only wanted to know how you and Snivy got together! He didn't need that many details!" Pikachu stressed, punching the Unovian Pokemon on the shoulder. "Heck, _I _didn't need that many details!"

Oshawott grinned, sheepishly, rubbing his shoulder. "Hehe, sorry guys. I just get carried sometimes," He replied looking down at Froakie. "But, yeah, that about sums up mine and Snivy's love life. So, why did you want to know?"

Froakie, after being introduced to Oshawott, was told that he'd be able able to answer any questions the frog may have about what might happen at his time in P.I.C.H.U. Though, he didn't really need to know anything, to be honest. Froakie had seen his fair share of tough battles and was pretty jaded to the whole hospital thing.

But, after catching two scents off of the otter, he deduced that he had a mate and had asked how they got together in the hopes that he could relate somewhat and find a way to capture Fennekin's attention...

...Though it didn't really help that much.

While it is true that both he and Oshawott were both in P.I.C.H.U. and they had both saved the ones they loved from horrible fates, their personalities were polar opposites and the situations were quite different. Considering that Snivy was already in love with Oshawott, so the otter didn't have to try so hard. Fennekin, conversely, probably didn't share his feelings so he had to find a way to win her affections.

Pikachu noticed Froakie's down look and smiled, sympathetically. "This is about Fennekin, isn't it?"

His eyes snapped open as he and Oshawott turned to him. One in shock, the other in interest. You could probably guess who portrayed which emotion.

"H-how...did you know...about that?!" Froakie asked, timidly. Pikachu grinned.

"Oh come on, you expect me not to notice this expression on your face whenever she's around?!" Pikachu answered, before he put on a fake, infatuated goofy smile, his head swaying back and fourth in an exaggerated manner. Oshawott stifled a chuckle while Froakie just sunk down in his covers in embarrassment.

Oshawott noticed and patted Froakie's arm, gently. "Hey don't worry about, dude, Pikachu's not much better," Pikachu was about to argue, before Oshawott stopped him. "Or should we remind ourselves just how I got into P.I.C.H.U.?"

Pikachu snapped his jaw shut and rubbed the back of his head, sheepishly, while Froakie looked on confused. "W-well. Yeah, okay, fine. You got me there."

"Yes I do," Oshawott grinned, before he spotted something and grinned wider. "Speaking of, how are you and Buneary? Doing well?"

Pikachu blinked and the suddenly change of topic and nodded. "Yeah, we're fine."

"Just fine?" The otter smirked, pointing to Pikachu's neck. "Cause that love bite suggests you're doing more then fine, Casanova."

Pikachu flinched and covered the offending mark with his paw while Froakie chuckled. "So...That's what...that was!"

"You know, I think I hear Ash calling! See you later, guys!" Pikachu yelped, getting on all fours and rushing out the room, stumbling a few times on the way, the Water-Types chuckling lightly at his expense.

"Ah man, I missed that lovable ball of yellow!" Oshawott grinned, before turning to Froakie. "So, what's this I hear about you and Fennekin?"

Froakie turned and decided that confiding in a fellow team-mate might help. He already had in Chespin earlier, true, but maybe someone who had a mate might understand his plight a little better. "Well...I have...a major...crush on her...and..."

After Froakie had finished sharing what had happened earlier between him and the fire-fox, including what had landed him here in P.I.C.H.U. in the first place, Oshawott had a thoughtful look on his face.

"Well, unfortunately you can't seek her out, but I'm sure she'll come to you eventually. I mean, she's probably talked about it too, and the other girls must have consoled her a little," He noticed Froakie's look and put on a sympathetic smile. "Hey now, it's probably nothing too serious. I mean, with all the emotions running through her at the same time, she must've been near a breakdown at that point. I know I would've run off crying if anything like that happened to me."

"So...Do you think...I have...a chance?" Froakie asked, hopefully. Chespin's earlier words helped him before, but having a second opinion never hurt anybody.

"Well, I don't know. Sorry, but I don't really know this Fennekin girl, so I couldn't even pretend to know what she's thinking," Oshawott replied, rubbing his head sheepishly. He noticed Froakie looking upset again and tried to come up with a better answer. "Do you think you have a chance?"

"What?" Froakie asked, confused. Oshawott just smiled, a determined expression on his face.

"That's always the first step to trying to win someone's heart. You have to have confidence in yourself! There's no point in asking if others think you have what it takes if _you_ don't think you do. So, do _you_ think you have a chance?"

Froakie blinked, thinking the otter's words over. In a way, he was right. If he doesn't believe in himself, how the heck was he supposed to win her over?!

It was like a battle, in a way, if he doesn't believe in himself he'll be doomed to fail and he doesn't want to fail! He doesn't want to lose his chance at developing a relationship with the beautiful, fun, smart and just adorable Fire-Type!

So he put on his most determined face and held up his good fist. "Yes! Yes I do!"

Oshawott smiled, before noticing a familiar face pop in the door. "Good, because she's coming in to talk to you, good luck!"

"WHAT?!" Froakie yelled out, though almost immediately regretted it as his throat constricted in protest and he grabbed it to rub soothingly.

Oshawott passed Fennekin, giving her and encouraging smile, before he heard a familiar sound and his smile had a little more fondness.

Fennekin watched him leave, a little confused, but shook it off and jumped up to the bed beside Froakie, grabbing a water bottle off of the table next to him, nudging him with her nose to get his attention.

He turned to her and his breath hitched in his throat. She had chosen to take a seat just in front of the window, so she had blocked the sun so her outline was glowing, outlining her flawless, glossy fur and her eyes reflected the light of the lamp above him.

She just glistened like an angel.

Froakie suddenly took a deep breath after realising that he hadn't taken one in a while and, gratefully, took the water bottle from her, taking several deep drinks.

Fennekin, herself, was grateful for it's distraction, rubbing one of her forelegs with the other, lowering her gaze with a heavy blush. _**"C'mon Fennekin! You're here to ask him out, aren't you?!" **_A voice that sounds like Eevee's asked her.

"_Give me a second! I'm working on it!" _She told herself, before she groaned, audibly, causing Froakie to look over, concerned.

"Are you...okay...Fennekin?" She looked up and shook her head of the thoughts, deciding to ignore the other voice in her head for now.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." There was a pause as the two just stared at each-other, awkwardly, unsure of the other's thought or feelings.

"_C'mon Froakie, grow a pair! She kissed you and has been acting strangely around you all day! Do you need a flashing, neon light to tell you that she's into you!"_ Froakie heard a voice, not unlike Chespin's, in his head. Though it did push him enough to ask.

"Hey Fenny?" Fennekin blinked at her nickname, looking Froakie in the eye. It caused him to pause a little, before shaking out of it and putting on the most determined look he could muster. "I'll be...good to go...outside...in a few...days. So did you...want to go...on a date...with me?"

"YES!" Fennekin yelled, almost a little too excitedly, before she blushed and shook her head, noticing Froakie's large goofy smile and feeling her own, relieved one spread on her's. "I mean, yeah, sounds like fun."

* * *

"Snivy! Please calm down!" Professor Oak said, while Rotom tried to keep the grass snake from wrecking the lab looking for Oshawott's Pokéball.

"Snivy?! Vee Vee, Snivy?! (Where is he?! Did he get lost again, please say he's okay?!)" She kept saying to herself, her vines picking up Oak's desk, causing Emolga to fall off of it and land on the ground in a heap.

"Emol...(Ow...)"

"Snivy, please listen to Professor Oak!" Tracy also said, turning away from his video call to Ash, before turning back to the trainer. "I'm really sorry about this Ash, but if we don't get Oshawott back I think Snivy might just ruin all of the Professor's research on Rotom and his forms."

Ash sighed, grinning sheepishly. "Yeah, I really should've seen this coming. She and Oshawott were almost inseparable in Unova."

"Tell me about it, you rarely find one without the other here," Tracy sighed, before noticing Oshawott pop onto Ash's lap. "Oh thank goodness, Oshawott, you need to come back immediately!"

Oshawott smiled at Snivy, uprooting cabinets, which were originally bolted to the ground, in search for him. It made sense, really, he had gotten into a lot of trouble wandering off in the past. So Snivy was always a little paranoid when she couldn't see what he was up to.

At times it could be annoying, sure, but it was nice to know she always had his back if things got too hairy for him. He did cringe, however, when Rotom was smacked away with one of said cabinets. "Osha, Osha Oshawott. (Yeah, I should probably head back.)"

Ash looked down at him and have him a big hug. "It was good to see you buddy, even if it was only a little while. I'll let everyone know why you couldn't stay longer, okay?"

Oshawott nodded, smiling gratefully at his trainer before being returned to his Pokéball and placed on the Poke-Transporter, being delivered to Tracy. "Thanks Ash, I'm really sorry about this."

Ash just waved it off. "It's fine, Tracy, don't worry about it. See you later!" He finished, switching the phone off.

Tracy sighed in relief, releasing Oshawott from his Pokéball. "Osha, Osha! (Hey Snivy, I'm back!)"

Snivy turned, dropped everything she was holding, several Pokéballs to be exact, and almost slammed into Oshawott, wrapping her arms around him. "Snivy Sni?! (Where the Hell have you been?!)"

"Oshawott Osha Osha. (One of Ash's new Pokemon got hurt and he wanted me to cheer him up.)" He explained, rubbing her back soothingly. "Oshawott? (You okay?)"

"...Vee. (...Yeah)" She muttered, grinning and pulling him towards the door. "Snivy Snivy, Sni? (But you owe me a walk in the woods, remember?)"

Oshawott grinned at her, deviously, pulling away from the hug but keeping hold of her hand. "Oshawott! (That I do!)"

As they left, Rotom turned to Emolga. "Rotom, Rotom? (Their gonna do it, aren't they?)"

Emolga rolled her eyes, before making herself comfortable on Professor Oak's desk again. "Emolga? (Do Tranquil fly?)"

* * *

ML54: Please review, consructive critism is always nice! And keep on keepin' on my friends! :D


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